Song Qinglan let out a disappointed "oh," realizing Cheng You couldn't help either.
Judging by Qi Shengwen's confident demeanor, she had thought her daughter-in-law possessed extraordinary abilities. She had almost boasted about it.
"Do you want to watch here? Then I'll go inside to sleep. If the sun goes down, can you help me move my things in?"
Song Qinglan shot her a glare. The plant looked like it wouldn't survive, and she wasn't about to do such a foolish thing.
"I'm not watching. You can watch it yourself."
She still had her old friends to find and chat with.
She guessed they didn't know about Xu Nanxi being apprehended yet. Should she tell the Feng family? What a dilemma.
After Song Qinglan left, Cheng You went inside the house, leaving the Muxi grass to bask in the sun in the courtyard.
She slept soundly inside, unaware that the research institute had descended into chaos.
The moment they sent out the Muxi grass, Xu Nanxi and the person he had contacted were apprehended by the military.
With both of them under control, news also broke that the Muxi grass had gone missing.
Naturally, the research institute was in an uproar.
Xu Nanxi was somehow implicated with a spy. It was highly likely the Muxi grass would never be recovered!
It was either destroyed or transferred to foreign forces.
Director Hao regretted his decision so much he felt like his intestines had turned green. Zhao Jisheng himself had led the team; he should have handed over the item directly without any hesitation!
Now, the outcome for the Muxi grass was worse than if it had died!
"Liu Ying, Liu Ying, you are indispensable to this matter. You wait to be disciplined!"
This blow hit Liu Ying hard, and despair began to set in.
Xu Nanxi had repeatedly claimed that person had a solution, but it turned out to be a spy!
The staff at the Botanical Research Institute would likely all be thoroughly investigated.
"Director, I don't know... I don't know!"
She felt incredibly wronged. She had poured so much effort into the Muxi grass; how could she be involved with a spy?
Director Hao grinned menacingly, wishing he could tear the idiot apart.
"If you don't know, do you think I do? From the beginning, you shouldn't have brought Xu Nanxi in!"
If it weren't for Xu Nanxi, none of this would have happened today.
Liu Ying still felt she was being wronged.
"I asked for your permission when I asked Xu Nanxi to help with the popular science column!"
Director Hao roared, "That was you failing to judge character!"
It had even implicated the entire research institute.
Liu Ying's face turned ashen. No matter how she thought about it, she seemed to bear the primary responsibility.
She could only hope that the organization would uncover the truth and recover the Muxi grass.
However, Qi Shengwen had deliberately kept the matter of the Muxi grass secret, not even revealing much about the spy incident.
Even Cheng You, who had Song Qinglan helping her gather information, couldn't get much inside news.
A few days passed, and the Muxi grass visibly perked up. Its withered yellow leaves fell off, and tender buds began to sprout.
Song Qinglan found it strange. So many people at the research institute couldn't do anything, but Cheng You just needed to water it?
"Perhaps your place has better feng shui."
Cheng You couldn't help but chuckle, "Maybe."
This statement, however, made Song Qinglan disbelieve her.
"Tell me the truth, what exactly did you use?"
Cheng You glanced at her and shook her head, feigning mystery.
Some things couldn't be said.
She had piqued Song Qinglan's curiosity.
Unfortunately, some things Cheng You had signed a confidentiality agreement about and couldn't reveal.
As soon as Song Qinglan left, Zhao Jisheng arrived.
He saw Cheng You tending to the medicinal herbs in the pot and didn't pay much attention.
Cheng You had nothing else to do at home except tinker with these things.
"You've heard about the Muxi grass, haven't you? I wonder where those spies took it. It would have been better to give it to you earlier!"
Cheng You smiled, "Professor, does this thing in my pot look familiar?"
Professor Zhao put on his reading glasses and looked carefully.
"Hmm... it does look a bit familiar."
But he couldn't identify it immediately.
As he leaned closer, a thought flashed through his mind.
"This, this, this... isn't this..."
The few remaining withered leaves indeed resembled the one from the research institute.
"Cheng You, did you steal it?"
No, that wasn't right.
Zhao Jisheng quickly dismissed his own thought.
The Muxi grass had clearly been handed over to Xu Nanxi, so how could it be here?
Connecting it with the spies apprehended by the military, Zhao Jisheng had an epiphany.
"Good heavens, you were playing a game of 'luring the enemy into a trap'!"
Cheng You smiled and shook her head, "Not really. I didn't expect the research institute to hand over the Muxi grass to Xu Nanxi in the first place."
After all, she had personally intervened. Who knew Liu Ying would be so foolish?
Later, when Xu Nanxi took the Muxi grass, the military had a legitimate reason to act and apprehended that person in advance.
They also sent the Muxi grass to Cheng You.
The reason for the secrecy was that the higher-ups still needed to thoroughly investigate the staff at the Botanical Research Institute. Only after confirming their innocence would the matter of the Muxi grass be handled.
Zhao Jisheng broke out in a cold sweat. "Thank goodness nothing went wrong. You didn't tell me in advance, so I could have been at ease."
He hadn't slept well these past few days, let alone Director Hao.
Cheng You snorted, "It's classified information and can't be casually revealed. Otherwise, I definitely would have told you."
Knowing the Muxi grass was safe, Zhao Jisheng's heart settled.
He casually sat on the ground, looking at the Muxi grass in the flowerpot.
"It's growing quite well."
Even though it was planted roughly in a flowerpot, Zhao Jisheng had never seen it look so vibrant at the research institute.
"I water it every day, and I have to bring it inside at night. It's more delicate than my ginseng."
It was December, and the weather was getting colder. She didn't dare leave this thing outside.
Zhao Jisheng was speechless. For Cheng You, watering these medicinal herbs was already quite a hassle.
After leaving the compound, Zhao Jisheng couldn't bear the guilt and decided to give Director Hao a heads-up.
Otherwise, Director Hao would be tormented by this matter.
Meanwhile, Cheng You welcomed her third guest of the day.
Old Master Feng.
She had known this old gentleman would come, but she hadn't expected him to be so patient.
"Old Sir, you're here to ask about Xu Nanxi, aren't you?"
Old Master Feng looked somewhat ashamed and said, "I treated him like my own grandson; I truly couldn't stand by and do nothing."
Because of this relationship, he couldn't get involved in the matter.
"Cheng You, I've only come to ask one thing: objectively speaking, does Nanxi have any connection with that spy?"
Cheng You thought for a moment. Facing the old man's expectant gaze, she couldn't bring herself to say something against her conscience.
"Objectively, I don't think so."
Xu Nanxi was eager for success, but the Muxi grass held less allure for him than even ten of her Tai Chi pills.
The spies wouldn't be after her Tai Chi pills, naturally.
The old gentleman let out a sigh and nodded.
"I understand. Thank you."